


Turquoise

by Purpletyrex



Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Royalty, Candles, Clexa, F/F, Implied/Referenced Homophobia, Kissing, Lexa keeps hairelastics in her bra, Martial Arts, Princess Alexandria Woods, Princess Lexa, Royalty, Threats of Violence, lexa doesn't die, lexa woods - Freeform, maid clarke, mature for future sex, smut (in later chapters), some original characters - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-07-08
Updated: 2016-07-27
Packaged: 2018-07-22 09:12:28
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 7,089
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7428807
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Purpletyrex/pseuds/Purpletyrex
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Alexandria is the oldest princess in her line, heir to the throne.  Lexa's mother is sick, and time is slowly running out. The royal family is searching desperately for a potential man for her to marry. Lexa however, is far more intrested in the sassy, blonde maid who's assigned to help her find that perfect partner.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The queen wishes to see you

Sunlight was shining through the window on the other side of the bedroom. It was a big window, the sides framed by beautiful, red curtains. Birds sung their songs like usually, it was still early in the morning. Another day. Just like every other one. Lexa pushed herself upright and brushed her hair behind her ear. She knew her mother wouldn’t be up for another hour, the queen never woke up before 9 o’clock. So Lexa brushed her teeth quickly, splashed some water in her face and braided her hair back in a simple braid. 

She looked at her reflection in the mirror for a moment. Her own green eyes stared back at her, a lively green that seemed to change color in certain lights. She wasn’t wearing makeup, or jewelry of any kind. In contradiction to her mother, Lexa prefered it that way. The queen hadn't been in a very good mood the last few weeks and it wasn’t hard to guess the reason. She was getting sicker every year and her oldest daughter had to be married first in order to receive the throne. And that was quite the problem. Lexa’s father was never a part of the family and the birth of a princess from a unknown father had been an immense scandal. That’s why her mother, Clementine Woods, quickly married a rich son of a duke nearby after her birth. His name was Albert and he was a bit of a distant man. Not unfriendly, but not exactly a father either. The rulers of the kingdom weren't together a lot, not if they didn't have to be. There was no way the queen would give him the throne after her death, not if her oldest daugther was fit for it as well. Clementine Woods was a tall woman with high cheekbones, sharp enough to cut bread with. Her fysical appearance was everything you'd expect for a queen: strong, fierce and beautiful. The way she carried herself showed her status more than words ever could. It wasn’t a trick, it was just the way she was.

Lexa wouldn’t say she really knew her mother. The queen was always busy and Lexa had never been her priority. At least, not until she got sick and people started talking about the future of their kingdom. Lexa had one other sibling, Aden. The queen and her new partner got him a few years after their wedding. The boy had blonde hair and pale skin, he was about twelf now. Aden had gotten all the good traits Lexa missed in herself. He was really funny, sassy but also very clever and wise for his age. Aden was the prince everyone loved and Lexa couldn’t even blame people for it. He should have been the heir to the throne. But he wasn’t, so Lexa should, no, had to find a partner. She had accepted that long ago, knew the kingdom would be her responsibility one day. 

Lexa slipt into a random pair of black pants and a deep blue shirt. She ducked under her bed to find her favorite boots. They were worn out a bit and ended just under her knee. She laced them up tightly and looked at them grinning. Her mother would definitely not approve of those. Someone knocked on the door. “Princess Woods?” A voice asked. She recognized the owner immediately. Gustus was one of the guards and one of the very few people Lexa considered a friend. He also trained the other guards. As a child Lexa had begged him to learn her to fight. She was mesmerized by the way they moved their bodies. Dancing with swords twirling around them, deathly, beautiful. With a soft smile he had given in and years of practice had turned her in a skilled fighter. ‘Yes?’ She answered, while walking towards the door. The doorknob was made of copper and felt cold under her fingertips. Gustus wore several complicated braids, he always wore his hair in braids. What was different however, was the look on his face. He looked slightly concerned. It didn’t show to much, he was a trained warrior after all. But Lexa knew the man well, and she noticed the second she looked at him. ‘Hello Gustus.’ She greeted. 'Goodmorning Princess' He was silent for a second before stating: ‘The queen wishes to see you.’ She glared at him for a second. Most of the time that wasn’t a very good thing. The queen being was awake at this time was weird already. He knew that too. Gustus patted her shoulder reasuringly, a thing always he did when he wanted to encourage her. She thanked him and closed the door behind her. 

It was quiet in the palace. She passed a red haired maid who was silently washing one of the many windows, and three guards, who were pretending they didn’t exist. She knew most of them by name. The queen's floor was located right above the great hall, in the centre of the castle. Edgar, a tall man with broad shoulders and dark skin was standing next to the stairway. ‘Goodmorning, princess’ He bowed his head a little, stepping aside. She managed to pull the corners of her mounth up into a small smile at that. This specific stairway led up to the queen’s private floor, they were guarded every second of the day. Even at night. Edgar was almost always the one on this post during the morning. His patience was definitely something to be jealous of and he was a really skilled fighter as well. Every few steps there were small windows, and the higher you got, the better the view became. 

The palace was surrounded with nature, long forests you could make people disappear in. Sometimes, when there wasn’t much to do in the castle, Lexa would take out her horse just to be away from the whole royalty thing for a few days. Most of the time however, she had many other, more important things to do. She would be the queen soon and there were still so many things she had to learn. So she studied for hours, made trips through the country to meet the folk she would rule over. Or she discussed politics with some of her mother's advisors. And besides that there were those extravagant dinners a few time a year. Those were the worst. In the spare moments between the things she had to do, Lexa trained her younger brother. With her back straight and her head held high she took the last step, scanning the hall. 

She walked into the hall, but turned around immediately when she reached the middle. Footsteps. The doors here were almost silent, and the queen was a trained warrior but she wasn’t quiet enough. Her mother grinned unapologetic at her. ‘I see Gustus training has worked at least a little.’ She said, with only a hint of sarcasm. Lexa nodded once. ‘He is a great warrior.’ Lexa always asked herself why the queen disliked Gustus so much. She was after all, trained in combat herself, so the fact that he learned her to fight couldn't be the problem. Lexa didn't ask. 

‘You wanted to see me?’ Lexa asked. The queen wore a long emerald green dress, the neckline decorated with beautiful gemstones. It accentuated her eyes, a very light blue color. Her mother looked good today, only the incredible paleness in her face showed how sick she actually was. ‘Yes, there is someone I want to introduce you to.’ She answered while looking at Lexa’s boots with slight disgust. ‘After you have changed clothes.’ She then added. ‘Yes mother.’ Lexa was both relieved that everything seemed to be okay, as tense because this probably meant that she had to go on another date with whoever her mother deemed to be fit as her husband. The last time the candidate was a 30 year old prince. He wasn’t ugly, but started bragging about his amazing poetry talent before Lexa even had the chance to introduce herself. After that he started explaining how every kingdom needed a king like him. Definitely not someone Lexa would want to spent a lifetime with. 

She had her own room on this floor too, a place she barely visited. This floor had enough bedrooms to be home to 20 people, without counting the questrooms. Remainings of times in which te royal family was lots, lots bigger and the whole family still lived in the palace. She walked over thick carpet, and took a look in the walkincloset. The whole thing was filled with dresses, formal clothing and lots of shoes. There were long dresses, the kind her mother wore, dresses with sleeves, several different colors and fabrics and black dresses that were only suitable for funerals. She never wore most of them, but her stylist still bought new ones often. Lexa had asked her several times not to, but he had told her it were queen's orders. She let her fingertips wander over the different textures, until she found the dark red dress she was looking for. The dress had thin shoulder straps and complicated lace patterns on the back, but was long enough to be formal. She had no idea who she was dressing up for really, so she decided that this was an okay choice. The braid she had made half an hour ago looked a bit messy, so took it out and instead made some small braids to keep her hair from falling in her face. Lexa always kept some small elastics in her bra, for emergency braids. After adding a bit of make-up and picking a random pair of black heels from the shelf she was ready. 

Next to the queen stood a woman of Lexa’s age. The woman looked at her curiously, her eyes a bright blue.‘Clarke I introduce you to my daughter, Princess Alexandria Woods.’ Lexa still didn’t know why her mother introduced her personally to this woman.The woman bowed her head a little. The blonde probably wasn’t here for a very formal reason, judging the clothes she was wearing. It was something Lexa would wear during those sneakout trips to the forest. A long black shirt with long sleeves, dark pants and low boots. ‘This is Clarke Griffin.’ The queen said, introducing her with a gesture. ‘It’s a pleasure to meet you, your highness.’ Miss Griffin said while stroking some loose strands of hair behind her ear. She had a deep voice with a slight accent. Lexa recognized that accent from her trips through the south of the kingdom.The queen looked at Clarke with slightly pursed lips before finally explaining. ‘Clarke will be your maid, starting today.’ She said. It makes a lot more sense now. The last maid left a few weeks ago, wanting to spend more time with her family. He did his job okay, but Lexa was silently quite happy he was gone. She didn't mind cleaning up after herself, or chosing her own clothes at all. ‘Welcome Clarke’ Lexa smiled politely. Lexa wondered why the queen made such a thing of introducing a new maid. Lexa didn't recognize the woman and that was quite weird aswell. Normally new people started washing windows and similar things. She was kind of sure that she would have remembered a woman as good looking as Clarke. But instead of asking she just kept her face neutral. The queen was silent for a moment before she spoke again.

‘There is another reason Clarke is here.’


	2. While you stay here

Lexa knew that her mother wanted to find her a partner desperately, but she hadn’t expected her to go this far. ‘You hired someone to find me a date.’ She stated, a lot calmer than she actually felt. She breathed in deeply to make sure she wouldn’t start screaming. Her mother had started talking about how she didn’t think Lexa would find someone. Not without help from the outside.  
That was kind of ironically if you asked Lexa. It wasn’t like the family had given her the freedom to search for someone herself. Anyway, her mother kept talking in that sharp way. The no-discussion-voice. Clarke would be with her in her “journey”, as the queen had called it, to finding someone who suited her needs.

Lexa didn’t want help, especially not when her mother spoke about it like she needed it. She wasn’t stupid, she knew she had to marry someone to get the throne. And she would. She would marry anyone really, for the sake of keeping their people save. But only as a last resort. Her mother was very sick, but she wouldn’t die over the weekend. 

How could Clarke help her choose between people? Her whole life was planned out for her, but she had always told herself she would make this one important choice alone. Without others bossing around. Well, that wasn’t going the happen. ‘Indeed Alexandria.’ The queen answered her slightly rhetorical question. It was very typical for her mother to use her full name when she was irritated. 

Lexa gave a short nod and focused on Clarke.’So, do you have any specific plans miss Griffin?’ She asked. ‘Yes your highness, I do have a specific plan’ There was a hint of sarcasm in the way she pronounced Lexa’s title. Enough to make Lexa look at the blonde for clarification. Clarke didn’t give her any, but just stared daringly instead. Lexa was severely surprised that the queen hadn’t kicked her out of the castle yet. People had been fired for less. The week before for example, she had fired a new servant because he hadn’t folded the towel he was drying the dishes with properly. Lexa decided to ignore it and nodded shortly in response. ‘Well, let’s get started then.’

Clarke was trying hard not to look too excited and Lexa found that to be very amusing. She wouldn’t admit it of course. That would be weird. Lexa decided it it would be practical for Clarke to take a look at her new home first, before she started. The palace was a big, complicated building, so Lexa didn’t expect her to actually remember all of it afterwards. They walked through the left wing first. 

It was still quiet, the calmness of a new day. Lexa didn’t talk much, small talk wasn’t really her thing. Clarke abruptly stopped and Lexa was about to ask her if there was something wrong when she saw what the blonde was looking at. The ceiling. The whole surface, from the entrance to the end of the left wing, was covered in art. It had been a gift from another kingdom after helping them in a war three centuries ago. Several artists had spended more than a year to complete the paintings. It consisted of thousands mythical figures, on the background of golden stars.

‘It’s beautiful.’ Clarke said. The morning sun seemed to stitch the gods and figures together in one big gold pattern. ‘It is.’ Lexa admitted. It was a long time ago she had thought about something like a ceiling like that. She knew it was there of course, and she had enjoyed it before, but things stop being special when you see it every day. She looked at Clarke and almost wanted to smile. The woman had this look on her face that made it almost impossible not to. ‘The figures, they display several myths out the time of the Roman empire.’ Lexa explained. Clarke stared at the ceiling for another second, before nodding. ‘Who painted it?’ She then asked. ‘I do not know exactly, it was a gift from a neighborhood country a few centuries ago.’ 

Clarke didn’t ask any other questions about the ceiling. Lexa showed her the quest diningroom they only used once or twice a year, and the library. The library was one of the biggest rooms in the castle, apart from the greathall. The whole place was covered in books, archives and more books. Some books had survived centuries, some were only a week old. Wherever you looked you saw bookcases. Lexa spended hours and hours of studying there. The books were sorted by age aswell as alphabetic order. On the ground floor you could find all books from the last two ages, in the basement underneath it were the older books stored, as well as an archive. The place was also divided in blocks based on the subjects. That might have seemed a lot of organising, but it was the only way to keep such a massive amount of books over viewable. 

Most people would feel uncomfortable in the basement, but Lexa liked the place. It was old, a little wet, but also quiet and a great place to be alone. That last thing was the foremost reason. She didn’t really want to share the place with anyone else, so she didn’t mention it, or the wooden door behind the bookcase in the last block.

After visiting the library Lexa quickly walked across some of the empty guest rooms and the kitchen. She also showed her the guards corridor, which consisted of several rooms, a small living room, three bathrooms and an equipment room, that stored some of the weapons and clothing they used daily. The guards corridor looked a bit dead at that specific moment, because those with a dayshift where working by now and the who worked at night took moments like this to get some sleep. 

‘This will be your room, during the time you stay here.’  
Lexa said while opening a door in the same corridor she slept in herself. The questrooms were needed for the upcoming meeting and this room had belonged to her last maid as well. ‘Did you leave your belongings in the hall when you arrived miss Griffin?’. Clarke didn’t look at her while answering. ‘No.’ She paused a second before adding ‘I don’t have any. Your highness.’. Lexa knew everything she could say would probably come out wrong, so she didn’t say anything at all. Instead she just nodded in understanding. She had ordered one of the other maids to bring some food to Clark’s room, aswell as her own. 

‘Octavia should be here in a moment with something to eat. Take the time to look around on your own a bit, I’ll be back around 10’o clock to talk with you about your job here.’

Time to talk to the queen first, Lexa decided

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi there! Thanks for the nice comments, I really appreciate it!  
> I hope you all enjoyed this chapter a bit :) 
> 
> And of course, comments or tips are absolutely welcome.  
> You can always hit me up on Tumblr under the name Clarkeandlexaa too. 
> 
> I'll try my best to update soon.  
> Bye!


	3. Fifteen minutes

Clarke was sitting on the edge of the massive bed. She didn’t really know what to do, now she was alone. The room was bigger than her complete home had been and was filled with unnecessary decoration. She didn’t even want to think about how this room must have costed. 

It was pretty, yes, but very unpersonal. She was anxious she would ruin something. The thick velvet blanket for example, or the with gold embedded glass cups on the bedside table. The walls were covered in a light yellow wall paper, that made her think of summer. It was one of the only things she did like about the room. 

She felt numb inside and asked herself why she had chosen to do this. The alternatives were far worse and she knew that. That didn’t mean she liked being there, or serving the princess. Alexandria was not the old, ugly woman she had expected when she signed up for the job. The princess wasn’t ugly at all, but she did have this arrogant attitude. 

Clarke thought about the look on the princess' face when she heard why Clarke was there. Or the way she took the beauty of this place for granted. The way she walked, or talked. If the woman did talk at all. Clarke hated her for that, for the way the princess seemed to feel better, worth more than others. 

The blonde took a deep breath and forced herself to stop pitying herself. After all she was quite lucky to be there. She stood up and walked to the window. They were on the first floor, so she couldn’t see the whole garden, only a small part of it. That didn’t matter though, this part alone was already stunningly beautiful. Her fingers ached in anticipation when she thought about drawing it. 

God, she missed drawing. In the tumult of running away from home, finding a job in the royal palace, she hadn’t even thought about it. She used to draw every time she had the chance, it was one of the only things she did because she wanted to. Not because she had to. 

Someone knocked on the door and Clarke opened the door to see a dark haired woman from around her own age. Probably Octavia, like the princess had mentioned. ‘Goodmorning.’ The woman said with a grin. ‘You must be the new one, isn’t it? I’m Octavia.’ She pushed the trolley with food into Clarke’s room while holding the other hand out for Clarke to shake. ‘I’m Clarke. It’s nice to meet you.’ Clarke said, shaking the brunettes hand. ‘So, how are things going for you so far?’ Octavia asked. 

‘Fine, I guess?’ Clarke didn’t really know how to answer that. Nothing had gone wrong yet, right? ‘I arrived this morning, so I haven’t really done anything yet.’ She added. Octavia nodded understanding. ‘Well, you do have a nice room.’ She walked around, taking in the room with interest. ‘I have blue walls, nice as well obviously, but yours look even better.’ Clarke smiled at that. 

‘What would you like?’ The princess told me to bring you several different things.’ She hold up some pastries. There were so any things to choose from, that Clarke just shrugged. She wasn’t used to being able to choose what to eat. Her family had just enough money to buy food in general and Clarke was happy if whatever was for dinner was actually made for eating purposes. 

Octavia didn’t seem to mind and started picking out random things from the cart. ‘Is this okay?’ She asked when she had finished covering the surface of the small table by the door with pastries, bread and several beverages. ‘Sure.’ Clarke answered. ‘Thank you!’ 

‘See you around Clarke!’ Octavia said, disappearing into the hall.   
Clarke took a piece of bread and a plate from the table and poured herself a glass of a clear, sprankling substance. She almost moaned when she tasted the bread; way better that any bread she had had at home. She wondered if all the bread in the palace tasted like this. That was something she could become accustomed to, she decided. 

After eating several pieces of bread, two pastries and a weird round thing she didn’t recognise, she felt a lot better already. Octavia had been nice as well, she hoped the others would be okay too. There was still food standing on the table and she didn’t want to waste it, so she searched her room till she found something to store it in. Which turned out to be a mini fridge.

She looked at her watch, the only thing she had left to remind her of her dad, to see she still had 15 minutes left. She walked towards the wooden door on the other side of the room, to discover a complete bathroom. There was a bath in the middle, almost big enough to swim in. The room smelled like flowers and everything in it was made from either shiny white stones, gold or glass. Clarke hadn’t expected such treatment for a simple maid at all. It felt all too much and so different from home. But she couldn’t deny the beauty of it. 

The princess had asked her about her plans and the truth was, she didn’t actually have any. Not specific plans at least. The things she had in mind when she left home didn’t fit the princess at all, now she had met her. So Clarke realized that she had exactly 14 minutes left to think of something, if she wanted this to work.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Same as the first two chapters, don't be affraid to comment if you have remarks, tips or something else to say :)  
> I hope you liked reading this chapter and I hope to update soon!  
> Btw, is there a way to only show the new note, instead of notes from all chapters? 
> 
> You can find me on Tumblr too, under the name Clarkeandlexaa.  
> Thanks,  
> Bye!


	4. Normal clothing

What would be the right kind of person for the princess? Clarke asked herself. It was a hard question to answer about someone she had met less then an hour ago. But, it was important to know when she organised dates. The person had to be royal, or at least important in some way, the queen had made very clear. 

That made it all a lot more complicated. Those people were kind of rare, especially if you didn’t count people above the age of 40 and direct family. Which Clarke didn’t, even though she knew it wasn’t uncommon among royalty. The princess deserved better than that. Besides, Alexandria had to choose herself and Clarke didn’t saw that happening with an 50 year old man. 

The queen had given her a list of people Alexandria had met and disapproved of, already. Ten names. That wasn’t too bad, she decided. The kingdom was big after all. And maybe there would be interest from neighbor kingdoms as well. There might not have been many people to choose from, but still enough to at least try. Maybe she could let the princess do speeddates with several people. 

But no, she didn’t saw that turning into a succes. All those people would have to travel to the palace. Only to talk with the princess for several moments. Besides, Alexandria didn’t seem to be a heavy talker. Or maybe she was, Clarke wouldn’t know. The princess hadn’t talked to her a lot, but maybe she just didn’t like talking to her servants. 

Clarke decided to write the idea down anyway, hoping something better would float into her mind before the princess would want to discuss plans with her. 

Of course she could just plan some ordinary dates as well. The queen however would probably not be satisfied by that, since that plan had sailed already. As a last resort, she picked out some good looking names from a list that the queen had given her and wrote those down to. There wasn’t much information included. The age, birthplace and name. That was all. 

Clarke hadn’t been given a lot of information about Alexandria’s previous dates. She knew they didn’t went well, but that was all really. Had the princess really taken those people on trips, or only met them briefly? Maybe she could ask her. 

She stood up and paced across the room, to inspect it a little further. There was an enormous closet in the corner, and Clarke decided to take a look. The wooden surface of the doors were carved into flowery patterns. She let her fingers slide over it and wondered how old it was. Like the other parts of the palace she had seen this far, it probably was. Most of those things were still in good state however. If it wasn’t for the antique style, you would have believed it people said it was made last year.

This closet was no exception. She opened it, to find several duvets, blankets and bedsheets. Besides those things she also found clothes. She felt relieved when she saw simple black trousers, white blouses and a black shirts with long sleeves. Others might have hoped to get beautiful dresses. Clarke was very happy she didn’t. The clothing in the room wasn’t that different from her own, a little neater, the colors lighter and of course clean. But nothing she couldn’t get used to. She hope this would indeed be what she got to wear during her time here. Octavia had been wearing something similar, and she was a maid too right? 

She thought about the way the princess had dressed. The long dress had looked really good on her, there was no denying that. It accentuated her long legs and the thin shoulders straps showed just enough cleavage to be considered sexy and classy at once. Clarke wondered if she always dressed like that. Clarke decided that she wouldn’t be surprised if the woman did. 

Clarke remember the day she first met the queen vividly, a little more than a month ago.  
The queen had been wearing a red dress that remembered Clarke of the ball gowns she had read about as a child. Back then she fantasized about being a princess, dancing around in one of those dresses. Fantasies like those slowly faded when she became older. Alexandria had shown her the great hall only briefly, opening the door to give her a look, before walking further down the hall. 

Maybe that would be a good idea, a ball. Potential candidates and their families could come to the palace and that way the princess had a chance to meet several of them without having to talk to those she wasn’t interested in anyway. Besides, it would probably by a lot more fun for the candidates as well. They didn’t even have to be informed of the actual reason of the ball if the weren’t chosen. 

With more hope than when she started she wrote in on top of her list

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, I'm on a vacation this week/next week so I probably won't post anything in that time. 
> 
> Bye!


	5. Maybe she will be alright

Lexa walked around the garden. The sun made her hair glow and her skin warm. She was still angry, it didn’t show on her face. The flowers dominated the whole garden, wild and colorful, but still neat. Lexa sat down on a wall and closed her eyes. She knew her mom would be there in only a few minutes. 

She told herself she wouldn’t yell or get angry again. No, instead she would ask her calm and direct to give her a chance to select candidates herself. 

She looked up at the palace, about hundred meters away from where she sat. She found herself looking for her a particular room on her own floor. What if Clarke did have a good idea to find her a date? 

The first time she had been on a date with one of the candidates her mother had arranged was still a clear memory. She was not at all intrested in repeating that. 

She couldn’t help but wonder why her mother had chosen Clarke for this. The woman hadn’t worked in the palace before. (Yes, she knew for sure, because she had asked several person) and seemed to be rude. 

How could she even be sure Clarke was trustworthy? 

Why did her mother think this woman would be more capable than herself, the queen?  
Maybe she just didn’t have the time to continue doing it herself. 

Would she be a big influence in Clarke’s work, maybe even tell her what to do? 

Several questions drifted around in her brain, not enough information to answer any of them. 

Besides, there were other important things to think about aswell. The people on the south side of the kingdom had suffered from floods and extreme rainfall just a few weeks ago and many places had been destroyed. 

Lexa had visited them last week, had seen the devastating power of the water. She had planned to think about ways to prevent it from happening again during a ride through the forest this morning. She promised herself she would talk about it with her advisor tomorrow.

And then there was the big illiteracy level through the kingdom, a problem her mother didn’t really seem to care about. Lexa did care however and she might not be queen yet but she did have influence. The soldiers and guards where her responsibility for example. 

It had been a part of her job for several years now, and was one of the only reasons Gustus still worked there even though the queen disliked him a lot. Her mother had asked her several times to hire someone else, but Lexa just told her he was the best trainer they could get, and that she wanted her soldiers to be trained by someone who knew what he or she was doing. 

That wasn’t a lie though, he was the best trainer. Her training nowadays existed mostly of practicing drills and sparring, because she had grown past him a little in the last years. There was still room for improvement of course, so she tried to attend training as much as she could. On Mondays she gave lessons herself. 

Someone walked to her, she could hear the sound of feet against the stones. It wasn’t her mother, even though that’s who she expected. The queen walked a lot more silently than this person. Aiden, probably, she decided before opening her eyes. The young boy stood a few meters from her in the grass. He wore a soft smile, innocent. ‘Hello Lexa’ He said.’Hey Aiden.’ She answered. “Is everything alright?’ Sometimes when he was thinking deeply, he had this small frown on his face. 

He nodded shortly. ‘Have you seen Gustus?’ It sounded a little fake, there was no need to ask her this, he could have asked anyone in the palace. Lexa shaked her head. ‘Not in the last few hours.’ He turned around and then stopped. ‘Is it true that mom is getting sicker and that she hired someone to get you a husband?’ He then asked.

Stories spread quick in the palace, it didn’t even surprise her anymore. Maybe he had even seen her. ‘Yes’. She sighted almost unhearable. ‘I’m sorry.’ He said, way to serious for someone his age. ‘Maybe she will alright? Better than mom at least?’ He tried. ‘Maybe. But I just don’t want anyone to choose for me.’ Aiden nodded, understanding what she meant. ‘She is pretty though.’ He then added, grinningly, while walking back into the garden. 

‘She is what?’ Lexa blurted out. ‘A good looking person. Not for me of course, she could be my mom.’ That wasn’t true, but it was close. Lexa breathed out relieved. 

She is pretty. Was she? Lexa hadn’t looked at her in that way. She had noticed the elegance in the way she carried herself and her eyes, and.. But she had never thought about a woman as pretty. Or beautiful even. 

Was he right, would the blonde be a better help than her mother? 

She decided to give it a try and jumped of the wall. Time to hear those plans the blonde had talked about. 

There were several different gardeners in the palace, and Lexa liked to look at the garden and guess who had done what. Jed, a man with a long beard liked wild and colorful. Lexa was pretty sure he had designed most of this part. Her mom wasn’t an art person, but she liked flowers just like Lexa did. That’s why she had not two or three people working in the garden, but at least six. 

Lexa’s favorite was the soft style Mitch used, field flowers in white, pink, green, purple and yellow. Mitch was a young man from the village nearby, with no schooling at all, but a lot of talent. She had met him during a trip through the country a few years ago. 

Lexa wondered if Clarke liked flowers. If she was more into Jed’s style or prefered Mitch elegance like she did herself. Then, she remembered herself how much that actually mattered. Nothing. 

She heard the sound of metal to metal from behind the trees. It sounded natural to her ears, made her alerter. 

On her way to Clarke’s room she hopped into her own room first. She ate an apple and some bread, drank water and changed the uncomfortable heels for a pair that didn’t try to kill her feet. 

She softly knocked on Clarke door. The blonde opened the door before she had time to remove her knuckles from the wood. ‘Hello princess Alexandr-’ She didn’t let Clarke finish her entire title. ‘Just call me Lexa, please.’ Lexa spoke, surprising herself. 

All her friends called her Lexa, because she found it to be annoying if people needed half a minute to say her name and title. Clarke however, wasn’t even her friend. She tried not to think about it too much and looked at the woman as if nothing happened. ‘Clarke. I would like to hear about those plans you talked about.’

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, I'm back! I hope you like this chapter, as always, don't be affraid to tell me what you think! 
> 
> thanks for reading,  
> Bye!


	6. Speeddates

‘Eh, yeah sure princes- Lexa I mean’  
Clarke stepped aside so she could come in. Lexa stepped past her and waited for Clarke to sit down before she did so herself. The yellow walls were always the first thing to hit her in this room. They made the place look so much lighter than the other rooms on the floor. 

‘The queen has given me a list of potential candidates.’ Clarke said, sitting on the edge of the bed like it was made of porcelain. Of course Clementine had. Lexa sighted inwardly and gave the blonde a short nod to encourage her to go on. 

‘I do not know you at all, and neither do I know the people on the list.’ She then said, stating the obvious. Lexa watched her stroke her hair out of her face, while looking at a piece of paper in her hand. ‘And, most importantly, as far as I know you don’t know those people either.’ She talked in this nonchalant way, like Aiden did sometimes. The last few words however, sounded like a question more than a statement.

Lexa didn’t deny or confirm her statement and Clarke went on.  
‘That’s why I think we should host an event, where you can get to know several of those people at once.’ 

Lexa nodded again, waiting for more explanation. ‘Go on.’ Clarke looked up from her list with confident eyes. They were incredibly blue, bluer even than her mother’s eyes. Or maybe it wasn’t even the color, but the missing cold in Clarke’s in contradiction to the queen's eyes.

Clarke’s eyes might have been warm, but her face showed hints of irritation. The tension in her jaw, the way she moved her mouth. Subtle, but still there. The blonde took a breath.

‘I think we should host a ball.’ Clarke then said. There hadn’t been one of those in a long time, at least several years had gone by since the last one. Of course there had been diners and dancing festivities in the big hall every now and then. But nothing like a ball. 

‘A ball.’ Lexa repeated, thinking about it. Formal gatherings weren’t really her thing, but still, it would be a good way to choose some people to date without actually having to date all of the list randomly first. 

It would cost time to organise such a thing. She had seen the preparation for events that were like this. People needed to get invites, the great hall was far from ready at the moment, and then there were the security concerns. 

Hosting big events always brought some risks. You were after all bringing in hundreds of quests and there was no way security was able to monitor every single one if them. As far as she knew the kingdom was kind of calm at the moment, but they were still vulnerable. If someone killed the queen, and she had nobody to marry, well that would be a real big problem. 

But, she also saw the possibilities it would bring. She could check people out on her own, choose some people she found nice or attractive and have dates with them. That sounded a lot better than dating random people from the list of people with money or power. 

Those people wouldn’t even have to know why they were really there. That saved a lot of effort of telling people to shut their mouth, or even making them, after every date. 

She tried no to think about that one person that wouldn’t shut up without help, and looked at Clarke again.

‘Yes, indeed your majesty, a ball.’ She was using the title again. Lexa couldn’t decide if the blonde did it to mock her or not. It just sounded like a bit of a joke when Clarke said it like this. She ignored it, just like she had done last time, because it was her title and Clarke wasn’t actually doing anything wrong. 

Lexa nodded. ‘Do you have any other ideas besides the ball?’ She asked, hoping the blonde would come up with something that wouldn’t be so compromising for the safety of the palace. 

Clarke seemed a little disappointed that then princess didn’t respond any further on the plan but took a look at her list for the second idea anyway. She sat up straight, her legs crossed over each other. Strands of loose hair hung in her face again, an effect of the different layers she had cut into it. Maybe if she braided them, she wouldn’t have that problem, Lexa thought. 

‘You could choose several people from the list and do speeddates.’ Clarke smiled a little at her own suggestion. Lexa had never heard of that. The word wasn't that complicated, speed and dates did have known meanings after all. She decided to ask anyway. ‘What are speeddates?’ 

The small smile on Clarke's face spread in a bigger one when she answered. ‘It’s a thing where you talk to several people in one hour. Normally you switch places and people every few minutes, so get to meet other singles.’ Clarke hesitated for a second. ‘But since you would be the only one looking for a date, that might not be the best idea.’ 

Lexa thought about it and tried to imagine herself doing those “speeddates”. What could she even say in such a short time? “Hello, I’m Alexandria. Please tell me honestly, are you actually interested in me or is it just the throne?”

‘Eh no, maybe not.’ She answered. It sounded insecure and Lexa almost didn’t recognize her own voice. Clarke nodded. ‘I thought so.’ She said. 

The ball sounded a lot better than those speeddates. Lexa wondered if she could pull it off. The truth was, she knew she could. It had been done before and the guards were well trained. It was a risk, yes, but it wasn’t impossible. 

It was just quite a lot and what if she didn’t like anyone there? What if Clarke organised this thing and she would just mess it up? On the other side, this might be her only chance to make some sort of decision on her own. She had to choose anyway, it wasn’t an optional thing, she remembered herself. 

But before she gave the blonde her answer, there were a few things she needed to know.   
‘Clarke, may I ask you something?’

**Author's Note:**

> Hello!  
> This is my first fic here, so I hope it will be received positively. English isn't my first language, so I'm sorry for all the mistakes I might have made in this.  
> I will try to update as soon as possible. 
> 
> O and, if you are intrested in beta'ing this fic please contact me! I'm on Tumblr aswell, under the name: Clarkeandlexaa
> 
> Thanks :)


End file.
